400 Primary Schools Teacher Organises Open Day
Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) Malawi through its 400 Primary Schools project, provides the opportunity for teachers graduated from DAPP Teacher Training Colleges who are working in government primary schools to voluntarily stick together to share ideas, skills and experiences on how to improve the environments around their schools.
The project started in 2012 with 18 teachers. The number of teachers has continued to grow over the years and now the project works with 87 teachers from 56 primary schools across Malawi. One of the teachers Ester Sanganizani working at Mbwetu primary school in Chimutu zone, in Lilongwe district organized an open day with an aim of showcasing how learners at the school are performing. The activity which took place on the 8th of June 2018 was attended by parents, guardians, the zone’s Primary Education Advisor (PEA) as well as learners from the school.
Among other activities, the learners had a reading fair to showcase their reading skills to parents and guardians. The PEA Elube Swetala who was the event’s guest of honour, urged the parents and guardians to play a role in their children’s education by encouraging them to read after school.
“To help your children succeed in school, you should do your part to ensure that they have a strong foundation in language and literacy-related skills and a desire to learn to read. Reading will give your children the opportunity to practice this skill in meaningful ways,” said Swetala.
Sanganizani joined the project in 2013. She meets with her fellow teachers participating in the program after every school term to evaluate their work and develop work plans. The teachers also produce extracurricular learning materials called spines which are adapted from the government of Malawi’s education curriculum which they use on top of what is already provided by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
